JPS60176047A - Manufacture of amorphous silicon photosensitive body - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce dispersion of film thickness distribution and electrophotographic characteristics by causing glow discharge between a cylindrical electrode installed in a reaction vessel and a substrate located in its inside and opposite to it and shorter in the longitudinal length than it. CONSTITUTION:Gaseous SiH4 is introduced into a vacuum reaction chamber 2 heated to 230 deg.C with a heater 6 in a flow rate of 300SCCM by opening a valve 10, and the inside pressure is controlled to 1.0Torr with an evacuation system 18. When current is allowed to supply from a power supply 11 to an electrode 9 so as to give a power of 200W, said gas is injected through an introduction part 7 from nozzles 8. As a result, free radicals, such as Si-H, Si-H2, and Si-H3 are formed by the corona discharge in the vacuum chamber 2, and an amorphous silicon layer of 18mum thickness is formed for about 3hr on the surfaces of a substrate drums 5A, 5B, and 5C.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an amorphous silicon photoreceptor in which an amorphous silicon layer is formed on the surface of a cylindrical substrate by glow discharge.

[Technical Ra of invention and its problems]

Generally, in electrophotographic equipment, a-Se, 5e
Photoreceptors such as -Te, ZJtO, and A-1 photoreceptor (0, P, C) are used, but in recent years, amorphous and silicon (hereinafter referred to as a-8i) have improved heat resistance, long life, and It is attracting attention because it has advantages such as non-pollution and high photosensitivity.

This a-St photoreceptor is made of SiH4, 812H6, etc.
The film is formed by glow discharge of a gas containing.

FIG. 1 is a side cross-sectional view of a conventional aS+ photoreceptor manufacturing apparatus, in which a vacuum chamber 2 as a reaction container is airtightly mounted on a base 1, and a diffusion pump and a rotary pump (not shown) are used to mount the vacuum chamber 2. The internal pressure is reduced to 11)' Torr.

A drum holding device 3 is erected on a base l inside the vacuum chamber 2 so as to be rotatable by a drive device 4. The drum holding device 3 has a drum-shaped base 5 made of a conductive material such as AA.
The drum-shaped base 5 f can be heated to a predetermined temperature between 150 and 250° C. with a heater 6 . Further, a gas introduction section 7 is arranged around the drum holding device 3 so as to surround the drum holding device 3. The inner periphery 1 facing the outer periphery of the ram-shaped substrate 5 held by the drum holding device 3 of the gas introduction section 7 has a plurality of gas ejection holes 8 and is capable of discharging when voltage is applied. It also serves as the electrode 9. The gas introduction part 7 is introduced into the vacuum chamber 2 through a pipe by a valve 10 outside the vacuum chamber 2! r<The gas flow rate is adjusted to 4H+
j , 1i look talented C. This valve 10 is opened and -C, SN (4, S i 21 (a gas containing 81 such as 6 or a gas containing Si, a gas containing any of C, O, N, and +1. 1. Introduce a mixed gas with a gas containing any of the elements of Group A or Group I into the vacuum chamber 2.

A mixed gas of a gas containing free Si or a gas containing O, Sr, and other gases is passed from the gas outlet 8 of the electrode 9 provided on the outside of the drum-shaped substrate 5 to the electrode 9 as shown in FIG. 1. towards the drum-shaped base 5 which is disposed facing each other so as to be substantially coaxial. After adjusting the exhaust system so that the gas pressure inside the vacuum chicken bar 2 is at a predetermined value between 01 and 1 O Torr,
When a high frequency power (hereinafter referred to as 11., F, power) of 13.561' VIH1 is applied to <9, 1;s, Si is included between the other 9 and the drum-shaped substrate 5. A plasma state of a mixed gas of gas or iIJ:Si containing gas and other gases is generated, and the deposition of 881 layers begins.

Here, a residual gas conduction that did not affect the formation of the Si layer:
After passing through the exhaust port 12, the dust trap 13, the mechanical booster pump 14, and the rotary pump 15, the gas passes through an exhaust gas treatment A Ii6' (not shown) and is safely discharged to the outside air.

However, a-8 using a film forming apparatus as shown in FIG.
In the method for manufacturing the i-photoreceptor, since the lengths of the drum-shaped substrate 5 and the electrodes 9 are equal, the plasma waste paper causes an abnormal discharge in the upper and upper parts of the vacuum chamber 2, and as a result, the drum-shaped substrate 5
Since uniform plasma is not generated between the electrode 9 and the a-
There was a problem in that the film thickness distribution and electrophotographic characteristics of the 8i photoreceptor varied. .

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention has been made based on the above circumstances.
An object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing an A-8i photoreceptor having uniform characteristics with little variation in the film thickness distribution of the -8 i layer and electrophotographic characteristics.

[Summary of the invention]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention makes the length of the electrode facing the cylindrical substrate longer than the length of the cylindrical substrate in the longitudinal direction. This is a method for producing an A-8i nausea photo that can produce an A-8i nausea photo with uniform characteristics with little variation in characteristics.

[Embodiments of the invention]

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of an apparatus for manufacturing A-8I nausea for carrying out a manufacturing method according to an embodiment of the present invention. The arrangement of the apparatus and the film forming method are the same as the manufacturing apparatus shown in FIG. 1, but in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. No abnormal plasma discharge was observed in the upper and lower parts of the vacuum chamber 2, uniform plasma was generated between the drum-shaped substrate 5 and the electrode 9, and variations in the film thickness distribution and electrophotographic characteristics of the A-81 photoreceptor were observed. becomes less.

'Furthermore, FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of an apparatus for manufacturing A-8I nausea for carrying out a manufacturing method according to another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the length of the electrode 9 is made longer than the length of the drum-shaped substrate 5, and a conductive dummy drum 16 is provided above the drum-shaped substrate 5. The sum of the length and the length of the drum holding device 3 is made equal to the length of the electrode 9.

For this reason, since the conductive dummy drum 16, the drum-shaped substrate 5, and the drum holding device 3 are always present at 1'+14 opposite the inner surface of the electrode 9, the plasma does not go around to the upper and lower parts of the vacuum chamber 2. Even if it wraps around, it has no effect on the film thickness distribution and electrophotographic properties on the surface of the drum-shaped substrate 5, and furthermore, it has a uniform film thickness distribution, less variation in electrophotographic properties, and no film peeling. 8
1 photoreceptor can be manufactured.

FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 show an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an A-8I photosensitive production device.

In FIG. 4, three drum-shaped substrates 5. A, 5B.

5C are connected in series in the longitudinal direction of the vacuum chamber 2,
On the top thereof, a drum holding device 3 was provided on a part of the conductive dummy drum 16°1, and further, conductive 4y connected dummy parts J7A and 17Bf were provided at the connecting portions of the drum-shaped bases 5A, 5B, and 5C, respectively. Here, the length of the conductive dummy drum 16, the length of the drum-shaped substrates 5A, 5I3, 5C, the length of the conductive connection dummy parts L7A, 17B, and the length of the drum holding device 63 are determined by the length of the electrode 9. equal to length. Further, the conductive connection dummies -N'1 .mu.m 7A and 17B support each drum-shaped substrate and also serve to prevent membrane peeling.

The manufacturing method of the present invention will be explained using the manufacturing apparatus configured as described above.

First, the vacuum chamber 2 is heated to 1O-6 Torr with the exhaust system 18.
Press i to create a vacuum. And drum-shaped bases 5A, 5B, 5
Drive C! While rotating it with the auxiliary device 4, it is heated to 230°C with the heater 6, and the half lO is opened.
Introducing 4 dregs of 300 SCcM into the vacuum chamber 2,
The exhaust system 18 is used to adjust the internal gas pressure to 1.0'll'orr.

Next, a current of 200 W is supplied to the power generator 9 from the power source 11. At this time, the 8iH4 gas t, l passes through the gas introduction part 7 and is ejected from the gas ejection hole 8 as shown by the arrows.

In this way, due to the glow discharge in the viewing chamber 2, S i -H, S i -H2, S 1-H3
Radicals such as are formed on the drum-shaped substrates 5A, 5B, 5
An a-Si layer having a thickness of 18 μm is formed on C in a film forming time of about 3 hours.

On the other hand, the SiH4 gas in the vacuum chamber 2 is removed by the exhaust system 18.
The gas is exhausted through the U1 gas treatment device (not shown).

After the film was formed on the 9A-8i photoreceptor, it was taken out into the fire and the film thickness was measured, and it was found to be 18μn1±0.
The variation was extremely small within a range of 5 μm. Regarding the electrophotographic characteristics, the potential of the charging edge in Table 1 is -6, O
The corona charging of KV was within the range of -200±I O'V, and the half-reduced exposure amount due to 2gux tungsten light irradiation was 0.6, and there was almost no difference as #u>.s7c. In this way, aS! with less variation in both film thickness distribution and electrophotographic properties! Photoreceptors can be mass-produced.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, a total of three drum-shaped substrates are provided, but the number of drum-shaped substrates is not limited to this.

FIG. 5 shows an internal tC drum-shaped substrate 5 of the vacuum chamber 2.
This is an example in which five of these are arranged in parallel to form a film. FIG. 6 is for clarifying the positional relationship between the drum-shaped substrate and the electrode in this embodiment, and the line Cl-C2 in FIG.
It is a cross-section 1fl1 view along. In this embodiment, a pair of opposing electrodes 19 are provided standing apart, and five tram-shaped substrates 5 are arranged in parallel and substantially parallel to the opposing electrodes 19 between them.

Set up By applying high frequency power of 13.56 MHd from the power source 11, the counter electrode 19 and the drum-shaped base 5
A plasma state of a gas containing 8i or a mixed gas of a gas containing St and another gas is generated between the two, and the a-8i layer is formed.

The drum-shaped base 5 includes a conductive dummy drum 16 and a drum holding device r! 3, and the length of the drum-shaped base 5 of the plate 19 in the longitudinal direction and parallel direction is the length of the conductive dummy drum 16, the length of the drum-shaped base 5, and the length of the drum holding device 3. A-8 is slightly longer than the sum of the A-8 and A-8.
Fifty-one photoreceptors can be produced.2 In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, five tram-shaped substrates are provided, but the number a is not limited to this.

[Effect of departure]

As explained above, according to the present invention, the film j9- distribution of a-8ij- and the uniformity % with less variation in the photocompatibility of the a-8ij-
A S+ photoreceptor can be manufactured.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1-'f, FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a conventional A-8I photoconductor manufacturing apparatus, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are an A-8I photoconductor manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Shredded tFlI diagram, 24
Figures 14 and 5 show an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 6 shows the embodiment of Figure 5 in a cut-out diagram of the photoconductor mass production equipment.
Iillql. 2...Reaction vessel (vacuum Nayanvar), 5...
...Introverted base (drum-shaped base), 9...Cylindrical 1a pole (1 round pole), 3/16...Cylindrical 1
(Dummy part (drum holding device, conductive dummy drum), 1 7A ・ l 7 ■3=・=・Boar fie, tf
l (N4.TIi 1 Naka J"1rie da mi -
Part 19: flat plate electrode (opposite electrode ii). Agent Patent Attorney Nori Tora Chika (1 (1 other person) Figure 1 Figure 2 t/Q 7.5 Figure 3 Figure 5

Claims (6)

[Claims] (1) A voltage is applied between a cylindrical electrode provided in a reaction vessel and a cylindrical substrate disposed facing each other so as to be substantially coaxial, a glow discharge is generated, and a glow discharge is introduced into the reaction vessel. In the device for forming an amorphous silicon layer on the cylindrical substrate by decomposing a gas containing silicon, the length in the longitudinal direction of the cylindrical electrode is preferably longer than the length in the longitudinal direction of the cylindrical substrate. 113fj method for amorphous silicon photoreceptor. (2) A method for manufacturing an amorphous silicon photoreceptor according to claim 1, characterized in that both ends of the cylindrical substrate in the longitudinal direction are held by a portion of a cylindrical dummy. (3) Glow discharge is generated by applying a voltage between the cylindrical electrode provided in the reaction vessel and a plurality of cylindrical substrates having connecting portions disposed facing each other so as to be substantially coaxial. In a device that forms an amorphous silicon layer on the cylindrical substrate by decomposing a silicon-containing gas introduced into a reaction vessel, the longitudinal length of the cylindrical electrode is equal to the longitudinal length of the plurality of cylindrical substrates. A method for manufacturing an amorphous silicon photoreceptor, characterized in that the length is longer than the sum of the length in the direction and the length in the longitudinal direction of the connecting portion. (4) The amorphous silicon photoreceptor according to claim 3, wherein both ends of the entire cylindrical base consisting of the plurality of cylindrical bases and the connecting portion are held by a part of the cylindrical dummy. Manufacturing equipment. (5) Between a pair of flat electrodes placed in the reaction vessel,
A cylindrical substrate is disposed so that its central axis is substantially parallel to the flat plate electrode and half a turn above, and a voltage is applied between the flat plate electrode and the cylindrical substrate to generate glow discharge, and the reaction vessel is heated. In the device for forming an amorphous silicon layer on the cylindrical substrate by decomposing a silicon-containing gas introduced into the cylindrical substrate, the length of the flat electrode in a direction parallel to the longitudinal direction of the cylindrical substrate is A method for producing an amorphous silicon photoreceptor, characterized in that the length of the substrate is longer than the same length in the longitudinal direction. (6) The method for manufacturing an amorphous silicon photoreceptor according to claim 5, wherein both longitudinal ends of the cylindrical substrate are held by a portion of a cylindrical dummy.